1982 Bobby Allison Gatorade Buick - Salvinos JR kit

[dragcarz]

On 8/30/2020 at 9:03 PM, Goodwrench3 said:

Ok -- I'm trying something new.  Start to finish in under 30 days.  Yes, I need to let go of all that "perfectionism".  Nothing ever is, and all I've ended up with for years is partly built kits.

Here she is.  Body is on and now for the decals.   No --  the paint job isn't perfect.  And I'm OK with that.  I'm going to FINISH this kit and have it on my shelf to enjoy !!

 

 

Welcome to the club Jeff, I to used to not even start projects because my skills wouldn’t do the kit justice. I kept thinking when my skills got better I would build them. What I ended up with is 700 unbuilt kits, collected over the last 40 years, and only 28 built kits in my display case. 
I hurt my hand a year ago and loss some use of my right pointer finger( I’m right handed) and realized then that if I didn’t start building them, I may never get to. This year I have built 8 models, their not perfect, but I really am enjoying looking at them in the display case! I enjoyed doing the builds much more, it’s no longer stressful, but stress releasing. My goal is to finish two more this year, but if it doesn’t happen, it’s still the best year I’ve had in a long time. 

[Goodwrench3]

I had the same affliction ..  " I kept thinking when my skills got better I would build them".   Well, I've got decal sheets (binders of them) that I purchased 20 - 30 years ago.

Once I let go of worrying if others would think they were "good builds" ..   it got way easier.  Mine are not contest-quality, not super detailed,  and I really don't care anymore.  I just enjoy walking by them in my family room on the shelf and thinking that they look way better on the shelf than in a box in the basement !

 

 

[bobthehobbyguy]

Glad to hear you are taking a more relaxed attitude. And I believe that will improve your building skills. The more models you complete the more your skills will improve. 

[gdd0803@yahoo.com]

Great looking build , It look's great to me 

[Tuffy's Garage]

Old topic I know but I am trying to do the same thing as well tired of staring at close to 500 kits and either afraid to build them because they won't look as good as so and so's or because something isn't perfect. I too don't build for shows it takes the fun out of the build for me. I do like the NNL events 

[Goodwrench3]

13 hours ago, Tuffy's Garage said:

Old topic I know but I am trying to do the same thing as well tired of staring at close to 500 kits and either afraid to build them because they won't look as good as so and so's or because something isn't perfect. I too don't build for shows it takes the fun out of the build for me. I do like the NNL events 

Yeah this is the double-edge sword that the internet has created.  Now we see all of these "perfect" builds and we become afraid to build anything because we are afraid it won't be as good as those we see posted on facebook, etc.   As soon as we are worried about whether it will look as good as so-and-so's build, we're building for the wrong reason (in my opinion).  If you are building for someone else's approval, it's not going to be much fun -- at least it's not for me.  Doing that "forced" 30-day build broke me out of the rut.  I still struggle with it, but I just finish whatever I start and learn from the build.  I can improve on the next one -- but at least I *finished* one.  We won't get better with our skills unless we build.  And if we don't build, we can't expect to get better.

 

[Merkur XR4Ti]

I was falling into this trap as well, then decided I was only going to build for myself and for the shelf (ie not perfect and not super-detailed). It was hard at first but now I'm happy I let go of the anxiety of feeling my kits weren't good enough. They're great to me.

[Goodwrench3]

17 minutes ago, Merkur XR4Ti said:

I was falling into this trap as well, then decided I was only going to build for myself and for the shelf (ie not perfect and not super-detailed). It was hard at first but now I'm happy I let go of the anxiety of feeling my kits weren't good enough. They're great to me.

Amen.   I build my "shelf queens" and they look darn good sitting there in the family room to me.  I get far more enjoyment out of seeing more of them built and displayed on my shelf than having "perfect" builds.  They look much better than sitting in their shrink-wrapped boxes on the shelves in the basement!

[Tuffy's Garage]

10 hours ago, Merkur XR4Ti said:

I was falling into this trap as well, then decided I was only going to build for myself and for the shelf (ie not perfect and not super-detailed). It was hard at first but now I'm happy I let go of the anxiety of feeling my kits weren't good enough. They're great to me.

I am still learning this but been slowly working on a car that was started 2 yrs ago. I do a little every night even if its just gluing 2 parts together. For me it adds up if I do a little each day. Its not perfect but I seem happier as I build